1. USDA FOREST SERVICE UMass November 17, 2015 Nicholas DiGiacco
Good afternoon
How many of you have spent time or gone hiking or camped on a National Forest?
Amey and I are here today to talk about career opportunities with the Forest Service here in New Hampshire.
We are a federal agency under the Department of Agriculture
We are not connected to the State Division of Forestry and we are not the Park Service

2. Agenda Overview of the Forest Service Organization
Career Opportunities
Explain Federal Hiring (Forest Service Style)
Share Career Story

3. Who we are
The USDA Forest Service is a Federal Land Management Agency located within the US Department of Agriculture
The Forest Service is charged with:
Managing 195 Million Acres of National Forest and Grasslands
Research in Forest and grassland ecosystems
Support to State and Private Forestry

4. State & Private Forestry
Established 1905
MISSION
Sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.
Chief
National Forest
System
Research
State & Private Forestry
ORGANIZATION
FS was established in 1905 and the first Chief was Gifford Pinchot
He promoted the “Greatest good for the greatest amount of people in the long run”
His vision of sustainability is reflected in our mission statement “….meet the needs of the present and future generations.”
Most of the early National Forests were established in the west
In 1911 the Weeks Act was signed and it created National Forests in the east
Next year is the centennial of the Week Act and there will be events happening this year (Lecture series – Char Miller) and next year to celebrate
Currently an art history exhibit in the Silver Center
Organization
Chief is in Washington DC, current Chief is Tom Tidwell
there are 3 branches of the Forest Service
National Forest System
Research - The Forest Service is also the largest forestry research organization in the world
State & Private – no rep today, but they provide funds and technical assistance to state forestry departments, they have an office in Durham
approximately 30,000 employees

5. National Forests and Grasslands
- The National Forest System is composed of:
155 National Forests
20 National Grasslands
Puerto Rico to Alaska
and covers 195 million acres

6. White Mountain National Forest
796,000 acres
established 1918
110 employees
offices in:
Campton
Conway
Gorham
officially established in 1918 with the support of the Appalachian Mountain Club and Society for the Protection of NH Forests
currently have about 110 permanent employees
the number of seasonal employees varies year-to-year, typically hire seasonals in the summer months
We recently moved 3 offices into a our new office in Campton
We have other offices in Conway & Gorham

7. Deputy Forest Supervisor
White Mountain National Forest Organization
Forest Supervisor
Ecosystem Services
Technical Services
Public Services
Administration
Fire
Pemi District
Saco District
Andro District
Deputy Forest Supervisor
when you are applying for jobs with the Forest Service, it is helpful to understand how the forest is organized
The forest supervisor has overall responsibility for everything that occurs on the Forest
The deputy forest supervisor has similar responsibilities but it is considered more of training position
the sup and deputy work out of the Supervisor’s office
The forest is divided into Ranger Districts
There are 3 districts on the White, Androscoggin in Gorham, Pemigewassat in Campton, and Saco in Conway
Each district is managed by the District Ranger and they have employees who work in recreation, forestry, wildlife, environmental planning, administration, and fire management
Back at the supervisor’s office we have 3 staff groups: ecosystem services, public services, and technical services
in each of those groups there are specialists who coordinate issues across the forest and with high management levels (they do a fair amount of budget administration)
We have 2 smaller staff areas
Administration – they handle all our purchasing, contracting, pay our bills, maintain records
Fire staff – coordinate our response to wildland fires and they do a small amount of prescribed fire here on the Forest

8. Permanent Positions Archeologist – 2 Biological Tech – 3
Budget Analyst – 1
Business Mgt Assistant – 7
District Ranger – 3
Education Specialist – 1
Equipment Operator – 3
Environmental Coordinator – 6
Engineer Tech – 3
Engineer – 4
Fire Management - 5
Fisheries Biologist – 1
Fleet Manager - 1
Foresters – 13
Forestry Tech - 9
Hydrologist – 1
GIS - 2
Landscape Architect - 1
Land Surveyor – 1
Procurement - 2
Public Affairs - 3
Realty Specialist - 2
Recreation – 25
Snow Ranger – 4
Staff Officer – 3
Surveying Tech - 1
Visitor Information – 10
Wildlife Biologist - 1
We employee a wide range of disciplines
This is a list of position title and the number indicates how many of those positions we have on the White Mountain
Positions in orange are one that we typically hire seasonals

9. 2016 Temporary Jobs Outreach
Recreation
Resources
Trail Crew
Backcountry Ranger
Developed Recreation Staff
Visitor Information Services
Timber Stand Improvement
Construction and Maintenance Crew
Archeologist
Biological Technician
Fire Technician

10. Research and Development
USDA Forest Service
Department of Agriculture
Tom Tidwell, Chief
National Forest
System
State and
Private Forestry
Research and Development

11. USFS Research and Development
Works at the forefront of science to improve the health and use of our Nation's forests and grasslands
2,300 Employees
nationwide
7 Research Stations throughout United States and in the tropics
80 Experimental
Forests
Major areas of
Research:
Resource Use Sciences
Quantitative Sciences
Forest Management Sciences
Environmental Sciences

12. Most Employees in Research have advanced degrees
like a Masters or PhD in the following sciences
Ecology
Plant Science
Geology
Hydrology
Environmental Engineering
Plant Pathology
Wildlife Management
Silviculture
Forestry
Biogeochemistry

13. USAJOBS.gov All federal jobs are posted on USAJOBS.gov
you can set up an account that allows you to define criteria that describe your job interest
you can specify what kind of job you are looking for or you can specify a state or an agency or pay grade
when a job meets your criteria, you get an with a link to the job announcement
The Forest Service advertises a lot of jobs using Open Continuous Registers
OCR are blanket announcements for a specific type of job – Rec tech jobs, the location is listed as “US-Throughout the Nation”
the concept is that you pick your job and location, then submit your application, then when there is a vacancy the agency has a stack of applications on hand
The problem is you are looking for a job, you can’t just sit around waiting for a job to open up, and you don’t even know if there is even a rec tech position at your location of interest
So what can you do?
If you are interested in working for the Forest Service at a specific office, you call or the district ranger, tell them you are interested in working for the Forest Service and find out if they have any positions in your field
they will likely pass your information to the appropriate staff member, you ask them who that is and you call them, let the know who you are

14.
The White Mountain is trying to help applicants by posting announcements on our Forest website when we have vacancies
The address is up there and you are looking for “Employment”

15. Some things to keep in mind
Education
Experience
Status
Be Informed
Increase your chances
Cast a wide net
Be flexible (temporary employment, location)
Network ( s, phone calls, face to face)

16. Success Story

17. Recommendations
Be a known quantity
Get to know the local staff
Volunteer if you can
there are 155 national forests, opportunities to get experience elsewhere and come back to NH
Don’t give up